TF2 Thumbs Tournament

[Cigol]

I just joined a server and then so did a couple of others and it never progressed from that really. That is unless you want to count my complete and utter domination of course

We need someone to guide us like sheep - Shilling tried for a bit with Steam chat (which I forgot about) and voice comms - and I think there was enough of us for a team on a smaller server.

AS an aside on TF2, and this is nothing to do with thumbs players, but I'm getting frustrated with TF2 lately. I still really enjoy it, but find myself getting immensley irritated when I find myself on the a weak team. As I was saying to Nachimir earlier, I've never felt that way in Counterstrike. In CSS I can have loads of fun while getting trounced.

In TF2 though, if your team flakes then you are left feeling completely helpless, as teamwork is so integral that even a great player will get wiped when facing a more cohesive team. The game is at that stage where there is a vast difference in players that have a grasp on the tactics and other players who, for instance, choose to fill half of an attacking team with engineers, or build a sentry next to the spawn room where it does fuck-all until the very end and then not much, or defend a capture point by standing next to it just outside the outline and firing a pistol randomly, or repeatedly run their scout past the same bank of sentries without considering whether a demoman would fair better.

Counter-Strike is a different game style to be fair, but you're quite right with what you say. It doesn't really curtail enjoyment of the game but it is irritating when you're on a team that's completely impotent and the clock is counting down to your impending doom.

[Nachimir]

I'm still a beginner at TF2, but I'm getting exactly what you mean Dan. Earlier today, after a hard fought battle over the centre point at the start of a domination game, I was left capping the middle point of a map by myself while the rest of my team ran headlong past it and into the enemy base

Team = massacred, then me = massacred with a second or so to go until cap. It was a fucking 9 person team, and not one of the other eight seemed to even know how the game worked.

[David]

I'm really eager to get back into TF2 once I have a legitimate internet connection. My ISP is taking its time

People on my buddy list will be stalked.

[BigJKO]

Just bought the Orange Box, so I'm going to have to start training myself up. I'm afraid of joining the servers I see some of you playing on, because I suck so much I'll probably end up ruining the game.

Joined a server DanJW was playing on, and sucked it up. Big time. Did stupid stuff like running as a Heavy, with a Medic on my back, into the enemy base to spawns (dying instantly of course) and yelling "Watch out for a spy in the intelligence room", using the All-Chat instead of Team-Chat (*). Had no idea where the hell anything was in the map, either. It kept telling me my team's intelligence was captured and I had absolutely no idea where to look.

But hey, it was my first time.

(*) That did send the spy running towards me, though, and I took care of him.

[Thrik]

Heh, you'll get into it soon enough.

Note that those big circles with the score at the bottom of the screen also point towards the direction of the intelligence like a compass, including when the enemy is carrying it.

[Nachimir]

Don't sweat it JKO, if you're trying that hard you're better than a good few people out there. Public servers are full of dumb teams, which means you can practice a good deal - when you're spotting mistakes made by teams you're on, you know you're getting the hang of it.

Most satisfying moment from last night: Catching a disguised spy in my base because he had my name, then twatting him with a baseball bat

Favorite Demoman tactic: Right button still detonates sticky bombs even if you've switched to the other grenade launcher. On dom maps, I like to leave 8 on the forward point, then if I'm trying to assault the next one and see a "point is being contested" warning, boom Racked up loads of points and defenses like that in a game last night.

You can also set traps then bait people

[LOPcagney]

Don't sweat it JKO, if you're trying that hard you're better than a good few people out there. Public servers are full of dumb teams, which means you can practice a good deal - when you're spotting mistakes made by teams you're on, you know you're getting the hang of it.

Most satisfying moment from last night: Catching a disguised spy in my base because he had my name, then twatting him with a baseball bat

Ahh. Being a spy is such an art. You have to be able to act like the class you are disguised as (stay in places that you would find, say, a sniper or an engineer lurking about) and ALWAYS WALK BACKWARDS AWAY FROM THE ACTION.

[Cigol]

Don't always walk backwards - it depends on the map and the context really. The whole walking backwards thing (especially with a medic symbol) is so typical of spies these days that it actually makes you stand out more in my experience.

[LOPcagney]

Don't always walk backwards - it depends on the map and the context really. The whole walking backwards thing (especially with a medic symbol) is so typical of spies these days that it actually makes you stand out more in my experience.

Yeah, I guess "always" wasn't the right word. Although when I see a soldier running directly towards me when nothing else is around, I shoot. It's hard to lay down a definitive strategy for playing spy, since so much depends on who's playing and where. So yeah. DON'T ALWAYS RUN BACKWARDS.

[BigJKO]

Most of the time I just shoot anyone who isn't firing their gun. I tend to be overly suspicious.

Most satisfying, though, is when I memorize the class of a teammate I know after spawning, and nail every spy that ends up with his name and the wrong class.

[LOPcagney]

Most of the time I just shoot anyone who isn't firing their gun. I tend to be overly suspicious.

Most satisfying, though, is when I memorize the class of a teammate I know after spawning, and nail every spy that ends up with his name and the wrong class.

It's most satisfying to kill yourself, though. You get to have that "Haha, I've found you out." moment.

[DanJW]

I suck at spy lately. It's probably the only class left that I have yet figure out a reliable style of play with (besides the sniper, which I don't think I'll ever be good with).

I was good at spy early in the game's release, when most spies just backstabbed but I focussed on sapping and racked up many points that way. Nowdays most engineers are good at breaking sappers though so it's a lot harder. Occasionally I manage the old "sap and stab em before they can fix it" (especially fun after decloaking behind the an engy in the int room), but it's tough if they have friends around.

I think the scout has a lot of potential for mastership, if you can learn to think fast enough. One of the best moments I've had was when I used a scout to keep a team of four soldiers in complete dissaray all by myself. I'm looking forward to learning some more tricks with him. Oh, and beating a heavy to death with a baseball bat is also utterly brilliant.

[Nick]

I seem to do rather well with the spy. I think becuase you get something like half a point just for placing a sapper (without it exploding) and 2 points for a backstab, it's deceptive when you see your doing so well as you only need to kill half as many people. Although it's a bit more tricky than shooting a rocket at someones feet IMO.

Anyhow, what I tend to do is pick a disguise (usually demo man or pyro) then get out my sapper and then my knife and swing, thus breaking my disguise. This way I can use B for last disguise and I have sapper and knife to switch between using Q.

I then get as far forward as I can without being in view of the enemy -> cloak and press B -> run past the entire enemy team to another 'out of sight' spot -> then I can run forward as if I have just come from their spawn and then just stab away.

I usually do try and take out turrets first using Q do quick switch between sapper and knife for "the old sap and stab em before they can fix it" as Dan put it.

Always as soon as I have backstabbed someone I will cloak and press B. Then when I'm out of harms way I'll decide if I want to keep that disguise or change, although I feel the disguise is mostly just to stop turrets firing at you.

I've found that depending on which way a turret is facing, what level it is and how far away it is, you can stab an engy and cloak before being killed by the turret. Then you can disguise and casually sap the turret without any hassle from the engy.

[LOPcagney]

Yeah, I, like many of you I'm sure, got TF2 in beta with the Orange Box pre-order, and it's really interesting to see how much the game has changes since then. I played back when everyone sucked and was just trying out new strategies, like what Dan was talking about with the spy, and it's really interesting to see how tactics that were successful early in the game's release now have entire counter-strategies built around them.

[Nachimir]

Has anyone tried medic and pyro together?

I'd like to try it. Someone over at Black Cat has been singing it's praises, and it does make sense to me. As it stands, playing Pyro alone I can sow a lot of chaos, just not for long.

Also, I'm pretty surprised I've not seen ragers healing their own team's spy yet :/

[Cigol]

pryo and medic? Can't really see that myself with it's short range and lack of killing power (on its own). I can imagine it would definitely depend on the map as to its effectiveness as well.

I seem to do rather well with the spy. I think becuase you get something like half a point just for placing a sapper (without it exploding) and 2 points for a backstab, it's deceptive when you see your doing so well as you only need to kill half as many people. Although it's a bit more tricky than shooting a rocket at someones feet IMO.

Though arguably the people and contraptions the spy takes out have (invariably anyway) a potentially profound effect on proceedings. It's definitely trickier these days as well.

[BigJKO]

Oh, I was playing.. what's it called.. Dustbowl? And at some point we, the defensive team, and it seemed like the fight would go on forever because both teams were holding their ground well just inside a little, narrow passageway.

Both teams were holding it pretty good with Heavies and Medics, with occasional Demomen and Soldiers, when someone shouts to me "Go pyro, now!" and we rush in as three Pyros from behind, front and above and flame them all to hell. We died again and again, though, so I can only imagine the havoc we could've dealth with a couple of Medics on our backs.

Unrelated, I think my favorite map is quickly becoming Hydro. Simply because it keeps changing.

[LOPcagney]

For whatever reason I like the custom maps a lot more than the ones the game comes with. As a sniper, crazedacre is probably my favorite. I'm excited to see what people do once the SDK is released, and I'm looking forward to Valve's next mappack.

I think my favorite of the 6 Valve maps is Dustbowl.

[Nachimir]

I'm finding if you keep the flames on people rather than just setting them on fire, you can kill them really quickly. Unfortunately, of course Pyros are attention magnets too, hence not lasting long.

I understand it will be difficult for the medic to find cover in a lot of maps, but the combo might be a workable way to advance through tunnels.

[Nick]

Pyro + Medic is a fantastic duo, it's teh troo!

One of the most effective maps for it is Gravelpit as the cap points are in enclosed spaces. An ubered pyro can run onto the cap point and thrash everyone inside.

I find I get frustrated with medics that will only stick to heavies as teaming up with a soldier or pyro is just as effective, if not more so in certain situations. Also medics should be healing the whole team as well when they have the chance.

The thing is, a heavy has lots of health and can survive longer than a pyro. If the medic tags along with a pyro, who runs at a decent speed, you can cause lots of damage faster and for longer than a pyro would on his own.

[DanJW]

Yeah, uber pyro is "where it's at" as they say. And the fact that pyros are favoured targets can work in their favour as 'weapons of terror'. Often I will go kamikazi when I see an enemy offensive brewing. Running into a whole knot of opponents and setting them all on fire will only net you a couple of frags and get you killed pretty quickly, but will cause general chaos and force them to stop and put the flames out long enough for your team to get their defense together.

[Thrik]

The Pyro is great fun and I love ambushing people, but I'm telling you guys, Demoman is where it's at!

Once you get the hang of using the stickies in most situations and predicting where people are going to go, you can pretty much arsehole anyone. It is entirely hilarious getting a sticky under a heavy, sending him flying up into the air with it, and then making sure you've laid two or three more to finish him when he lands. :tup: :tup:

[DanJW]

Oh I agree. Heavy-medic teams especially think they are almost invincible, so it is always fun to vapourise the heavy right under the medic's nose. And as demoman I can lock-down whole sections of the map all by myself, and sentry turrets hold zero terror for me.

[Scrobbs]

I managed to get myself healed as a spy by an opposing team's medic the other night. 'Twas a right giggle. Then he twigged, and brought a nearby pyro down on me. RIP. :E

If anybody likes a friendly game, I'd like to invite you to a gaming community's server that, in the evening GMT at least, is usually busy.

The community is trickery.net [217.65.149.234:27015], which arose from the ashes of Blueyondergmaing, which in turn arose from the ashes of the old wireplay.

I'm currently campaigning to get 2Fort taken out of the rotation. Why? Because it is awful.

[Thrik]

Eh?! You're mental. 2fort is ace!